For You, A Thousand Times
by unicornthief
Summary: "You shouldn't have done it. I never should have let you, how long are you going to keep doing this!" Fists clenched and tears falling down his cheeks, he looked down at the girl worth a hundred soldiers, battered and defeated. "For you," she smiled "A thousand times".
1. Zeal

She remembered staring at him under that tree, watching him sleep. She remembered how she'd woken him up and noticed him crying, how he grabbed her hand and dragged her to watch the Survey Corps members come back from their expedition, defeated with nothing gained and so many lives lost. He wanted to join them, to go outside the walls to defeat the very thing that he had become, to explore the world outside the walls.

A few days had passed since the true identity of the female titan had been discovered. Eren was still recovering and everyday Mikasa would come to watch over him. She'd bring his meals every time without fail before having her own and she'd sit there 'till he had finished it all. She'd watch over him as he fell asleep, watching his chest rise and fall and wondering when the day would come: when this would all be over and there would be no threat, no need to fight, just the two of them together again like they used to be when they were kids. He never did say much, but he enjoyed her company. Just her being there with him made lying there in that small, bare room tolerable, until finally he could leave.

Eren was just fresh from recovery, but he wasn't completely back to full health. Mikasa was aware of this, and yet, Hanji and Levi wanted to carry on with their little experiments and mini expeditions to better understand the enemy. The military police were still raining down on them heavily and the city was still recovering from the damage caused by the two titan shifters. They had found an abandoned and run down building someplace outside the walls in a desolate area near the forests, so they weren't completely hopeless if titans where to find them at this hideout, and yet they didn't have the military brigade on their backs all the time. It seemed pretty safe, for now at least.

"Just get off my back will you!" Eren shouted. "Look, I'm not a little kid who needs to be looked after anymore! I can take care of myself and I don't need your help!"

"Eren, you and I both know that you can't survive without me. You're too rash when you're angry. One small mistake and you-"

"I'm still alive, aren't I? Just drop it already! Besides, Captain Levi is coming with me so nothing will happen."

"What?! How can that short man protect you? It's his fault you were captured by that female titan in the first place!" Mikasa yelled.

She couldn't believe this, all she wanted was to keep him safe and alive but she can't do that if he keeps pushing her away, whether he liked it or not, she was going to be there for him.

"You can't expect me to just stay here, don't you want this to all end? To live in peace and not having to watch our backs all the time? I'm gonna get rid of the titans once and for all and claim back everything that was ours!"

Eren was passionate - she gave him that - but he was also pretty reckless; ever since the truth came out about Annie, he had become even more determined than before to put an end to this. Did she want this to all end? To not live in fear and be caged like animals? Of course not. Because all she ever wanted was to be by his side and live a quiet life. But if by having a quiet life meant putting Eren in danger and being faced with the possibility of losing the one thing she has left in her life, then that was not an option for her. A life without Eren was unthinkable.

"Very well then", Mikasa finally spoke. She stared at the ground, watching the blades of grass beneath her feet, pushed into the dirt by her weight, defeated, and the blades of grass surrounding it, standing, tall. "If I can't make you change your mind then, I'm going with you," she finished her sentence, still staring at the patch of green they were standing on.

Eren couldn't believe it. Why was she so insistent on coming with him all the time? Why couldn't she just once, once! Listen to him and leave him alone?

"Mikasa! Why are you so annoying! I told you quit babying me I can do this by myself! Go bother someone else!" he growled.

"You think I'm bothering you?! I'm protecting you!" Mikasa screamed back.

"NO! You're not! You're suffocating me! What, you think you're better than me? That you're the only one that can kill titans? If I knew you were this annoying I wish I never would have saved you!" He spat.

Eren had finally had enough, he was so angry and he didn't even know why, he just wanted her to leave him alone. Mikasa stared at the ground hard trying to not think of what he just said but every word that fell out of his mouth hit her hard, her body was shaking and a wave of emotions swam through her body. Anger, distress, denial and, was she crying? No, she can't, she won't allow it. Eren turned to walk away from her after his little outburst, which had a big impact on Mikasa, anger and hurt took over her. She grabbed his arm before he could even take a step away, still shaking. Eren felt as though his arm would break any second with how tight her grip was.

"EREN!" She shouted.

"ACKERMAN! You're needed! Captain Levi would like to speak to you," one of the Survey Corps members announced as Eren pulled his arm free and stormed off. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steadying her breathing, she quickly regained composure and made her way to the Captain.

"What the hell could he want?" she thought to herself.

Eren reached the building where they were all staying - possibly a small hotel or mansion of some sort; it was old and the walls looked dull and grey, like they could crumble at any minute. It had a large hallway with a desk and a broken chair, with a grand staircase behind it. The rooms upstairs were in no better condition, but after Levi and everyone cleaned the building from top to bottom, it was up to standard living conditions.

"Hey Eren, where've you been?" Connie asked him as he walked past everyone, not saying a word.

"Huh? Eren?" Armin called out after him, but still no response. "I wonder what's wrong with him," Armin thought aloud.

"Just leave him," Jean said. "He's probably just pissed about Annie again…he'll get over it."

Eren reached the room he was given to stay in, which was shared with Armin and Jean. Everyone had to share rooms with someone else just in case anything happened. He slammed the door shut and stared at his arm, her mark still showing, and he collapsed on the hardwood floor. All he could think about was her face, seemingly emotionless and yet so full of hurt and by his own words.

"What have I done?"


	2. Breach

Mikasa walked silently behind the Survey Corps member who was leading her towards Levi.

_He didn't mean it._ _He was just angry, maybe I should just back off a little. But… if something were to happen to him…_

"The captain will see you now," the man said to her as he stood next to the door of an old, small cabin. They had gotten there faster than she expected. She looked around, observing her surroundings. There was nothing but towering trees all around the sides of the back of the cabin; in front, there was a never-ending footpath embossed with carriage tracks and multiple footprints of different sizes, all going different directions.

She opened the door gently and stepped inside. It was small, but cozy on the inside compared to the cold and dark on the outside. A single candle emitted a soft warm glow, illuminating the tiny cabin. There wasn't much in there: just a large wooden desk towards the centre back and a chest on the left side of the room, tucked into a corner, and of course behind the desk, was Captain Levi, humanity's strongest soldier. He appeared to be writing something. He either didn't notice Mikasa in the room, or he just refused to acknowledge her, but, either way, Mikasa was growing impatient. She needed to see Eren, but then again, a small part of her didn't want to. Maybe it was best to wait till tomorrow.

"You wanted to see me sir?" Mikasa finally decided to speak, after what seemed like hours to her, but was in actual fact, a few seconds. She couldn't figure out why he wanted to see her at this time - I mean, couldn't it just wait till tomorrow? She was tired and her head was hurting; she just wanted some rest. Upon hearing her speak, Levi put down his pen neatly on the desk and looked up at her.

"Yes. I take it you already know about Eren and his little 'assignment' tomorrow?" he asked her casually.

"Yes sir" she replied. _Maybe he'll ask me to come along too_, she hoped. That way, she could guarantee his safety.

"Then you must know that it is essential we do this right the first time."

"I don't actually know of the assignment but…for you to ask him to come so quickly after he's recovered, it must be important."

Levi watched her as she spoke - she wasn't looking directly at him. Levi knew his gaze could be a little daunting for some, but she sounded indifferent to him, and he couldn't work out if she was against the idea or just not interested. He decided it was just Mikasa being, well…Mikasa.

"That's right. We have our suspicions of others like Annie amongst our group, and this is the only way to draw them out. Commander Erwin has allowed us to go ahead with this mission before we continue to Zhiganshina."

Why was he telling her this? And at this time? He said they suspected their group, which she was a part of, to have more titans. He must trust her to tell her this, but still, something was bothering her about this.

"We all know how attached you can be towards your…friend. However, we can't let emotions get in the way of this..."

Mikasa looked up at him as soon as he hesitated to address their relationship, blushing slightly without realizing it. The candlelight flickered between the two, their shadows titan-like on the walls. His gaze was intense and she wished he would drop it; it was making her uncomfortable.

"...Which is why I'm assigning you to a different mission," he quickly concluded, finally dropping his gaze.

"But sir!" Mikasa's eyes grew wide.

_This is unacceptable! How can he not let me come along?! If there were others like Annie in their group, there's no doubt they will try to finish off what Annie had planned and take Eren with them! And others? So there may be more than one? If Squad Levi couldn't protect him from just one, who knows what could happen this time! _

"I don't think that's-"

"Sadly this is not your choice to make. You're coming with me to tend to a different matter, and we leave in a few hours before sunset so… get some rest while you can".

"But what could-!"

"Oi Mikasa!"

Mikasa snapped out of whatever she was thinking, not realizing she was thinking out loud and was now staring into the face of a now standing Levi. He placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward so he was closer to her, ensuring that he was making himself clear.

"I'll see you in a few hours," he finally spoke, in a stern voice. "Get some rest."

Mikasa decided it was probably for the best not to argue with the Captain, and so, accepted that she would not be with Eren tomorrow. All she could do, was hope.

"Yes sir," she replied quietly, and quickly exited the cabin. The wind slapped her face as she stepped in to the cold night air, her hair flowing violently in the blustery weather. She spotted the run-down building not too far in the distance and began her trek back.

Meanwhile the rest of the squad was already asleep. Jean snored loudly across the room from Eren. In between the two, Armin had drifted off into his own world. But Eren couldn't sleep. He laid there silently, wanting to partly punch Jean square in the face and make him stop that atrocious sound or to leave the room altogether, and to just clear his head. He could hear the wind slashing viciously on the fragile looking window. It had started to rain soon after, and he decided to stay put, having no energy to get up. He turned on his side, his arm resting under his cheek, that same arm, which Mikasa had furiously grabbed.

_I'm thinking about this way too much. There's no way Mikasa could hate me. I'm always getting angry at her and besides, she should know better than to underestimate my skills as a soldier. Heck, I'll show her, I'll show her tomorrow how strong I am and then she'll leave me alone!_

Eren kept telling himself this as he fell asleep, making him eager to wake up the next day and to start their expedition. He didn't know what he was meant to be doing exactly, but Hanji said she would explain everything to him in the morning. And besides, Mikasa was just…Mikasa: his overprotective sister. She was family and words were nowhere near enough to make her leave him.

Just before he drifted off to sleep, he could hear her voice: "Eren! Show Mikasa that you can protect her!"

"Don't worry," he told her. "I will."

**~The following morning~ **

"Are you okay Eren? You don't look like you got much sleep," Armin asked him with concern as they walked over to the large dining room to have their breakfast. It was a little after sunrise, and everyone was awaiting squad leader Hanji Zoe to arrive and discuss their task for today.

"What are you talking about Armin? I'm great," the green-eyed boy replied with a grin.

"Huh? Eren, you seem really up for today's mission and you don't even know what it is?" Armin looked at him surprised - but only slightly, for he knew Eren and his thirst for revenge on the titans was great. However, today he seemed exceptionally excited, as if he was going on a hunt for his early birthday presents or something.

"It doesn't matter what the task is," he gleamed. "I'm up for it. And once we get to that basement, this will all be over; and I'm going to get us there."

They sat themselves down at the table opposite Sasha and Connie.

_And then I'll show Mikasa that I can protect myself and bring an end to the titans reign; she won't have to worry about me anymore._

The more he thought about it, the more he realized something was odd about their seating arrangements. He took a look around the room, giving it a quick scan. There were a few rookie soldiers standing around by the back wall and two on the end of the tables eating silently. Two seats away from Armin, who was sat by his right, were Ymir and Christa, who were holding their own private conversation. Opposite Armin, Connie had fallen asleep, his head tilted back with his mouth slightly open. Next to him, opposite Eren, Sasha kept sneaking food off Connie's plate and onto hers, thinking no one would notice.

"Hey, where's Jean, Reiner, and Bertolt? I can't see them anywhere?" Eren asked, still looking around.

"That's because they left a little earlier with commander Hanji to check if it was safe for us to leave," Sasha explained after she stuffed the rest of Connie's bread into her mouth.

"And Mikasa? Did she go with them too?"

He peered around expecting to find her walking towards him and telling him to eat up, whilst also giving him a lecture on keeping safe and not being too reckless when they head out.

"Hmm..."

Sasha stopped eating to think, staring at the ceiling, finger to chin.

"Now that you mention it...I haven't seen Mikasa since yesterday," she finished.

"Really? She didn't come back last night?"

Armin seemed worried. Eren's eyes grew wide as he remembered their conversation yesterday. He called it a conversation, but he was pretty much shouting at her for trying to look after him.

_Did she really get that upset and just leave? She couldn't have, that just wasn't like her._

"Eren, what's wrong?"

An apprehensive Sasha came into view as his eyes refocused to his surroundings.

"Uh, n-nothing I just remembered…Captain Levi wanted to talk to her last night and she went to see him…that was when I last saw her…" he trailed off looking down at his food.

"With Captain Levi? Then you have nothing to worry about Eren! She's obviously gonna be safe...not that she needs any looking after of course," Sasha stated cheerfully, taking a big spoonful of her food.

"Yeah…"

Eren clenched his fist and then released it again. He could tell that he was getting angry, but what for? That she was with the captain possibly the whole night? And what on earth could they spend the whole night talking about? Or was it what Sasha had just innocently said: that she would be safe with _him_. Like no one else was strong enough to take care of her, not even Eren himself…

The door suddenly flew open as Hanji stood in the doorway, sunlight reflecting off her glasses, a distressed look upon her face.

"Okay everyone! Let's get going! There's been a change of plan so get to your horses as quick as you can," Hanji commanded.

Connie jerked his head forward as he suddenly awoke and hit his head on his now empty plate with a loud thud.

"W-what? Did I eat all my food already?"

"Of course you did. Haha...don't you remember?! It was delicious..." Sasha said nervously, drooling slightly as she said the last three words.

"Huh? But I'm still so hungry…" Connie put his head back on the table, still half asleep.

"Yeah...you're so tired your body can't even remember that you ate."

Armin looked at Sasha confused as she said this, she genuinely felt sad for him, like she didn't just eat two portions of breakfast as if it were one.

"But Sasha don't you remember, you-"

"Come on Connie, we gotta go!" Sasha grabbed the drowsy soldier from the table and dragged him to where the rest were now gathering to leave before Connie could understand what happened. Armin and Eren followed the rest and met up with Jean, Reiner, and Bertolt outside. They each grabbed their own horse as Hanji explained what had happened.

"We've got news that a vast number of titans are approaching us from the south," she told them. "It appears, Wall Rose…has been breached".

Everyone stopped and stared at the squad leader, bewildered before a barrage of questions were thrown at her. Everyone was talking over the other not knowing what to do or what this meant.

"Everyone calm down!"

The whole group stopped and looked up at the man on his horse, which neighed as it came to a stop just a few feet away from Eren and the rest, the survey corps' green-hooded cloak billowing behind him.

"C-Captain Levi?"

Eren looked up at him, squinting as the sunlight was bearing down on them. He looked behind him to see if anyone else was following Levi. There was no one else.

"Everyone grab your horses. There is no time…we need to make a move now," the captain spoke, looking rather calm considering the situation they were in. "We need to alert and evacuate all of the nearby houses and villages, understood?"

With a small nod and a "Yes sir" from everyone, they all got on their horses as Hanji told them to split up into four groups. Levi was just about to leave when he caught sight of Eren, who hadn't moved a muscle.

"Oi Eren, didn't you hear what I said?"

Levi stared down at him. Eren snapped his neck up realizing that everyone else had moved.

"Y-yes sir, it's just...I haven't seen Mikasa an-"

"Mikasa is fine," he answered before Eren could finish.

Eren breathed out, relieved. He was glad to hear it, but why wasn't she hear with the rest of them? And as though he had read his mind:

"I sent her to Wall Rose," Levi finished.

"What?! On her own?! What for?!"

Eren's words came out louder than he had expected. He knew he should trust Levi, however, with the titans appearing inside the wall and another group coming towards them, he couldn't understand why she would be left on her own. Anything could happen.

"She's more than capable of taking care of herself. As to why she went on her own: she wanted to. In fact, she insisted."

Levi couldn't see his face, but he knew that what he had just said hadn't helped in the least.

"However, I will be making my way towards her now, but I need you to follow instructions and start moving. Go with Hanji's group and avoid combat whenever possible"

Eren took in his words, understanding what he needed to do. He gave a quick nod and went towards the rest, listening to Levi's horse galloping off further and further away.

_Captain Levi will be with her soon, so she should be safe_.

But Eren couldn't help but feel useless. It should be him going towards her, after all she was _his_ family. As he straddled his horse and took off with the rest of his group he looked over to where Levi had just been a few seconds ago.

_Mikasa…please be safe._


	3. Ire

The horses sprang into action, galloping ahead picking up speed whilst the soldiers were listening to Commander Hanji.

"Once we reach the point, I want everyone to head to their given direction. The south will need more people as they will head back towards the wall and identify the location of the breach."

"Understood!" everyone shouted in unison.

_Heading back towards the wall? That's where Mikasa should be right now, if I can join the group going south then I can reach her. _

Eren had made up his mind: that's where he will be heading - even though he was given orders to go west and should trust Captain Levi, he couldn't help it.

"Commander Hanji!"

"Huh? Eren?!"

Hanji looked to her right watching the dark haired boy gathering speed, trying to ride alongside her. Everyone else had already split up into their respective groups.

"You're with the West group aren't you?" she questioned him once he managed to catch up with her.

"Y-yes ma'am, however…I feel like it would better for me to join the south."

"Really? What's your reasoning?"

"Well I…" Eren hesitated, trying to think up a good enough reason.

"Aah I see, you're worried about your special friend aren't you?" Hanji chuckled, looking at a rather flustered Eren riding right beside her. "Mikasa, is it?"

"Wh- No! That's not it…I was just thinking there'll be a lot of titans by the breach and so…you might need me-"

Eren was cut off by Hanji who noticed Eren's red cheeks and sighed "Ah young love" and rode off faster, leaving Eren hanging.

"Huh, wait! Is that a yes?!" he shouted after her, commanding his horse to go after her.

"Yes, but you gotta be faster than that!" she called back.

Thrilled, Eren followed the rest of the southern group as they spotted a nearby village and went towards it to help evacuate its inhabitants, he hoped there wasn't a lot of villages this far south, so he could go straight towards Wall Rose as soon as he could.

_I wonder if Captain Levi has reached her yet. The walls at quite a distance from here and I can only imagine the amount of titans that must be swarming around there. But why would they send Mikasa to Wall Rose in the first place… and on her own? When they know that it's been infiltrated by titans? That's absurd! What the hell was he thinking!? _

Eren was becoming angrier and angrier as he began venting in his mind not realizing that he was going full speed ahead of everyone else in the group. Suddenly a loud bang was heard up ahead, with a stream of black smoke shooting upwards, which brought Eren back to the task at hand.

_What, black smoke? But that means-_

"ABNORMAL UP AHEAD!"

"IT'S COMING STRAIGHT TOWARDS US!"

_I'm going to kill it!_

Eren took out his blades and hoisted himself up onto his horse so he was now in a crouching position on its back, still holding onto its reins tightly.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

They were growing louder and faster, the ground shaking beneath them; he could see it coming towards him.

_You bastard!_

He tightened his grip on his swords, waiting to pounce.

_One meter tall, ten centimetres across. This is it!_

A flash of green flew around the Titans neck and suddenly the titan stopped, dropping before Hanji and the rest. Eren relaxed himself again and sat back on his horse, putting his blades away. He looked up at the steam coming from the titan as it slowly evaporated.

"Ah! I see your nose is sharper than ever," Hanji grinned as she watched the tall blond land gracefully on his feet.

Mike Zacharias gave a small nod as he walked towards them. He was humanity's strongest fighter, second only to Levi, and his acute sense of smell allowed him to spot titans before anyone else.

"My team and I have cleared all of the villages up ahead. A lot of them were pretty vacant. It seems they escaped just in time," he told her, stopping just in front of her horse as he stood beside his. "Amazingly, we didn't encounter any dead bodies or casualties along the way".

"They escaped? All of them?" Hanji thought about this in her head for a few more minutes.

_Could it be possible that they all escaped and not run into a single titan? Not even an abnormal?_

"Hmm, that's strange, I assumed we'd have _some_ casualties…I want to go to one of the villages immediately!"

"But Commander Hanji! We need to get to the wall!" Eren shouted desperately.

He knew they had already taken too long getting to where they were now and then that abnormal titan came out of nowhere. If she went to one of the villages now, who knows how long she'll take. Everyone stopped to look at Eren who was farthest from the rest.

"The villages will still be there when we get back but please! Let's just go to the wall now."

Hanji and Mike exchanged looks, then with a smile and a nod from Hanji, Eren raced off towards the wall. He was going to get to Mikasa. It wasn't long now.

Before long, a group of survey corps members caught up with him as he was nearing his destination. Light was slowly due to start turning into darkness now as the sun was just beginning to set, the sky a brilliant shade of red immersing into a warm, vibrant orange. Once one of the members was within earshot, Eren inquired about Commander Hanji Zoe's whereabouts as soon as he had realized she wasn't within their group. It turned out Hanji couldn't help herself, and decided to stop off at one of the villages on the way here, dragging Mike with her. Eren laughed to himself quietly as he remembered his first conversation with Hanji about her famous titan experiments, and how enthusiastic she was talking about them the whole night.

He saw the fifty-meter solid wall that was Rose and saw a group about the same size as his just up ahead of them. This was the first part of the southern group that was led by Mike. They were also the ones, Eren found out, that fired the flare gun and warned the others of the abnormal that was charging towards them.

"Eren!"

Eren looked around struggling to find the source of the voice until he spotted the blond-haired boy come into view and he smiled.

"Armin!"

He walked his horse over to his and they both rode side-by-side as the group circled the wall to find the breach. They were silent for a while as Armin watched Eren, who was determined to find the breach. However, instead of looking at the wall itself, he seemed to be concentrating on the tops of the walls.

"Eren?" Armin said after a while, breaking the silence. He didn't respond.

_He's not looking for a giant hole in the wall, he's looking for someone._

"Did you find Mikasa?" Armin asked him whilst still keeping an eye on the wall, although he was pretty sure it wouldn't be hard to miss.

As soon as Mikasa was mentioned, all his attention turned to his friend. His green eyes peering into Armin's blue ones.

"You saw her?!"

Armin looked away from him, visibly concerned. They hadn't seen her for almost a whole day now.

"No…" he finally replied in a small voice.

"Captain Levi said that she'd be here…but I can't see her anywhere."

Eren sighed.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't seen _him_ either."

Armin looked up at him again as he turned his attention back to the walls.

"She's probably inside the walls, the sooner we find the breach the sooner we'll find her," he assured Eren.

"Yeah…"

He gave him a small smile before adding "Let's find her," his horse galloping faster as Armin took off after him.

It soon became dark and it was getting harder to see where they were going by torchlight. Eren felt himself growing weary as he struggled to keep his eyes open - he was concentrating on the wall so hard he hadn't noticed how dim it was getting around him.

"We've been going around for hours and I still can't see a damn thing wrong with the wall," one of the soldiers shouted up ahead, clearly frustrated and tired.

Just then they heard people up ahead. Everyone stopped as they saw horses coming towards them, their capes with the wings of freedom flowing behind them.

"Hey guys!" Sasha called as they got closer.

"Sasha! What are you doing here? I thought you were west," Armin asked her.

"We finished quicker than expected, so we decided to lend you guys a hand. We just came round from the other side," Jean told him. "So did you find it?"

Everyone looked at him confused.

"The breach? What, no… did you?" one of the soldiers asked, puzzled.

"Did you go around the whole wall?!"

"Not the side you just came from, since we haven't seen anything yet, we thought you were bound to," Armin told Jean.

"What the hell?"

"Do you think we missed it?"

"A hole with titans pouring through? Even in this light I doubt it," Ymir chimed in.

"Now that I think about it…I did find it strange how we didn't encounter a single titan on our way up here," Armin said.

He had been thinking about this for quite a while now, but didn't want to say anything in case he spoke too soon. Considering they came from the south, which was where the titans were approaching from, the fact that they had only encountered the one abnormal seemed off. And now they couldn't even find the breach in wall Rose? What was going on?

"Well… should we go round again?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Nah, it's too dark now and we're all tired. We should rest up and try again tomorrow morning," Reiner said.

They all agreed rather quickly, and noticed an old, worn-out castle near the wall not too far away, and decided to head up there and use it as place of rest.

"Oi Eren. You're quiet today. What's the matter with you? Not find enough titans on the way up here?" Jean teased him as they all went towards the castle slowly, taking it easy on the horses who were now exhausted from a whole day of strenuous trekking.

"He's just worried about Mikasa, we haven't seen her all day and…well..." Armin answered him when he figured that Eren wouldn't. He still seemed upset and had barely talked at all. He noticed how hopeful he was when he saw Jean and his group arrive, thinking she would be there with them, but quickly realized she was not.

"Mikasa?"

Eren felt annoyed when he heard Jean say her name.

"Just stay out of it! This has nothing to do with you alright!" Eren yelled at him out of nowhere.

Armin and Jean looked at him surprised.

_Why the hell is he so angry?_

"HEY! Shut the hell up you little shit! Who do you think you're talking to?" Jean snapped.

_I've had enough of Eren and his tantrums. He thinks just because he can turn into a titan he can act all Captain Levi on our ass? One kick and he'll go rolling down that hill!_ _Bastard._

"I was just gonna tell you that I saw her earlier, but…since this has nothing to do with me I'll keep quiet," Jean finished, but this time he sounded calmer.

Eren's eyes lit up.

_He's seen her? So she's okay? All this time I've been worried over nothing? And this horse-faced bastard isn't even gonna tell me about it? We'll see about that!_

"Tell me where you saw her," he asked him. He was nicer in tone but in his head, a horse's head was bleeding out under the covers of Jean's bed.

"So now you want to know? You should've been nicer to me earlier. Too bad..."

Eren was really getting pissed off at the sound of Jean's voice.

_Why won't he just tell me already?!_

Without thinking Eren launched himself at Jean knocking him off his horse as they both rolled around the ground, Eren finally managed to stay on top, overpowering him, his hands around Jean's neck. Jean struggled to get his hands off of him, his eyes growing wide in desperation.

Armin jumped off his horse and ran after them, pleading them to stop, Reiner noticed him running off shouting something and told the rest to keep moving forward as he finds out what has happened. Bertolt then lead the way with Ymir and Christa; Connie and Sasha were behind them with the rest of the soldiers.

"Eren! Let go of him, he can't breathe!" Armin begged.

But this only seemed to make it worse, as it appeared Eren's grip had tightened around his neck and Jean was struggling less. Suddenly, strong arms grabbed Eren from his forearms and peeled his hands off of Jean, hoisting him out of the way and throwing him to the ground. Jean turned to his side, coughing violently and gasping for air, his face red. Reiner knelt down beside him and gave him some of his water after he had calmed down. Eren sat a few feet away from Jean, breathing heavily, trying to calm himself and staring at his hands.

_How did this happen? How did I get… this angry… and why?_

Armin stood back and looked at Eren, not quite sure if he should approach him just yet for he still didn't quite understand what had happened. He looked at his childhood friend - the one who would charge head first into a fray not concerned about his own safety or how low his chances were of beating them, just to protect Armin; the one he shared a dream with, to go to the outside world and see the giant bodies of water filled with salt, the huge mountains made of ice and the fields of hot sand.

_Eren, what's happening to you?_


	4. Salvage

It wasn't long before they reached the castle. Reiner and Jean followed the rest of the group whilst Armin walked silently besides Eren. Neither of them spoke.

_I'm so angry… all the time. Where did all this rage come from? Could it be…? No, it can't be. I won't let it, this is our only hope, our only chance of winning, of taking back what's ours._

Eren stared at his hands, they were still shaking, although his breathing was back to normal. He clenched his fists, hoping it would stop, but nothing happened. He looked up at the huge grey castle in front of him as they drew nearer. They gathered by the large wooden door with rusted hinges concealed with cobwebs.

"Okay, its open. Looks like no one's been in here a while," one of the soldiers, Lynne, announced as she opened the door wider, leading everyone in. It was eerily quiet, with no light source apart from the torches they carried. Their footsteps echoed around the empty space.

"I can't see titans coming at this time of night, but just to be safe we can take turns keeping watch. We'll split up into two groups and swap after four hours. You guys can sleep first," Gelgar, one of the members put in charge of the south group by Mike, said to Eren and the rest, much to Jean's dismay.

"I'm not staying with that bastard, he'd probably try killing me again," Jean said coldly.

Eren didn't bother replying, looking down to avoid Jean's glare. He still didn't know what took over him and if it did happen again he wasn't sure how far he'd go.

"Jean..." Armin spoke quietly, staring fixedly at a small crack he found on the bottom half of the wall in front of him. "He didn't mean it, he's just tired and-"

"Armin, stop defending him. We're all tired but no one else has tried to strangle someone to death!" Jean snapped, he was glaring at the back of Eren's head who was still stood quietly. "It pains me that this brat is the only hope we have, a suicidal bastard that can't even control his emotions. If Mikasa wasn't so attached to him I would of-"

_Mikasa. I still don't know where she is, and I doubt Jean will tell me where he saw her now… damn it!_

"Jean, that's enough" Reiner said firmly, silencing him. No one spoke for a long few seconds. Gelgar and his group had already left and went up to the top of the tower to keep a look out.

"Besides, if anything happened to Eren could you imagine what Mikasa would do to you," Ymir mused, breaking the silence.

"Yeah…she'd probably kill you in your sleep," Connie added, sounding horrified by his own words.

"Nah...that's not her style: she'd torture you first," Ymir sneered, watching Jean who was looking slightly uncomfortable. "And then she'd feed you…to Sasha!"

"Ymir, that's enough," Krista spoke up, elbowing Ymir lightly - who was laughing at Connie's reaction, who was looking at an oblivious Sasha. She could tell that Jean wasn't finding any of this funny, and although it wasn't as awkward between everyone now, it was getting pretty late and they needed some rest.

Ymir, Krista, and Sasha went to one corner of the large room, putting their torches near them so they could see and use it as a heat source, and laid out their Survey Corps cloaks on the ground and tried to sleep, ignoring how uncomfortable and cold it was.

Jean, Connie, Bertolt, and Reiner sat adjacent to them, doing the same. Armin made his way towards Eren who was sat opposite everyone, on his own.

_Eren's been so quiet, I almost forgot he was here. _

Armin dropped his cloak next to Eren and sat down next to him, not quite sure what to say. He didn't know what kind of mood he was in, and he certainly didn't want to make it worse, so he decided to just sit there.

"I…I don't know what came over me."

Armin looked up at him, alarmed by the sound of his voice. Eren spoke quietly with no eye contact. He wasn't sure if he was talking to him or just to himself so he remained silent.

"Could this really be affecting me?" he said as he looked at Armin, waiting for some sort of reply.

Even though he wasn't fully making sense, Armin still understood his question.

"I don't want to believe it myself but…it is possible".

"I was hoping you would tell me something different," Eren said as he frowned.

A couple hours had passed and the group had finally drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep. With just the crackling of the torches and the slight rattling the large door made every time it was greeted with a strong wind, nothing else could be heard…but Sasha knew different. She awoke and looked around hazily, reminding herself why she was here and how she had ended up further away from the rest of the girls than she originally was a few hours ago. She noticed Ymir had taken her place next to Krista, so she was now sleeping in the middle instead of Krista. Sasha couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed that Ymir now had the comfort of sleeping on two cloaks, whilst she just had the company of the cold, stone floor. No wonder she woke up. She put her head back on the concrete floor, too tired to do anything else, and then…she heard it.

_Is that? It can't be, there's no sun light, but… there's no mistaking it, they're coming!_

The ground shook ever so slightly, and she could hear that horrid thumping sound of giant footsteps gradually making their way over.

_Wait, are they getting faster? They're running in darkness? Can they really sense us in here?_

Sasha jumped up, her heartbeat matching their rapid footsteps as they grew louder and louder.

"EVERYONE WAKE UP! TO THE TOWER NOW!" Gelgar bellowed, running down the stairs. Within seconds everyone was up, grabbing their cloaks and dashing up the solid grey steps to the top of the tower.

"Look" Lynne pointed down below them, their eyes following her trembling finger and making their way towards the edge. "Titans!"

Everyone took a huge step back to avoid falling into an early and gruesome death.

"How is there so many of them?!" Krista asked, stunned.

They watched as a titan, bigger than the rest of them, tried to scale up the tower wall. Before anyone could stop him, Gelgar attached his hook to the wall just above it and hacked off the titans fingers, watching him fall, landing on top of the other titans.

"Hey look at that, he took out the smaller ones with him too," Connie stated, observing the scene below him.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of the rest," Nanaba, another one of the soldiers from Mike's team assured the rest as she took out her blades and followed Gelgar, jumping down onto a titans nape, taking it out.

It wasn't long before the rest of the south group that was part of Mike's had joined the battle with the titans. All Eren and the rest could do was look on and hope this would all be over soon, for they had no equipment with them. Just as things were looking up and the majority of the titans were nothing but a steaming pile of mess, a 15 meter class appeared out of nowhere grabbing Lynne.

"Look out!" Gelgar shot his hook at the titans' chest, Nanaba did the same and they both aimed for the titans eyes. Before they could reach it a sudden force pulled them back towards the wall, crushing them unexpectedly.

"GELGAR!"

"NANABA!"

"Was that a horse?!"

Jean and the rest of the group watched, horrified at what was happening right in front of their eyes. A titan, unlike the rest of them in both appearance and strength stood just a few feet away from the tower. Covered in hair all over its body apart from his face, hands, feet and torso, it towered above the rest at seventeen meters high. Its arms were slim and elongated, and its gait was human-like.

"W-what the hell is that thing!?" Eren managed to speak.

"Did it just…aim the horse at them?"

Armin looked at the ape-like titan in front of him, perplexed. He had never seen or heard of anything like it. He flinched at the sound of soldiers dying below him, battling to save everyone's lives. He wanted to help them, but he couldn't move. His feet were glued to the floor beneath him and his heart was pounding.

_How can we help them? We have no gear and no blades and it looks like there's a herd of them coming towards us again. _

Just then, Armin saw something move next to him, he looked over at Eren and his eyes grew wide, realising what he was about to do.

"Eren! No!" he shouted at him desperately. "There's too many of them, you can't take them on by yourself!" he pleaded, watching his friend stood with his mouth open, his hand raised.

"I can't just stand here and do nothing! I can take them out! Besides, it's better than waiting here to be devoured by those monsters!" Eren shouted back.

He furrowed his brows, witnessing the bloodbath of innocent, brave lives being taken mercilessly.

_I'm gonna kill every last of one them, and protect us all! _

Leaping off the edge and taking a bite of his hand, a brilliant flash of green emerged with a thunderous bang.

"What the hell is he thinking?!"

Jean watched as a giant fifteen meter class was produced out of thin air, letting out an almighty roar. The rogue titan trampled on the smaller titans before smashing his way through the rest. Kicking, punching, biting, and grappling, he managed to clear the area by the tower. Connie and Sasha cheered Eren on, watching him in awe along with the rest.

"Look! Up ahead!"

Following Jeans gaze, they saw a vast number of titans, some walking, some running, and a few smaller ones crawling. They were coming right towards Eren.

"Eren, get out of there!" Armin shouted, realising that his right arm and left hand still hadn't regenerated along with his leg.

But Eren wasn't moving. He was sat up against the tower wall, unresponsive.

"EREN!"

_Why isn't he moving? Is he planning on taking them all on at once? That's insane! But what if…_

"What if- he can't come out of his titan form?!" Sasha asked, confirming Armin's thoughts.

"Damn it! We don't even have our blades!" Reiner shouted, feeling frustrated and helpless.

"Wait! Did you see that?" Connie yelled out in surprise. The titans were seemingly dropping one by one in the distance.

"Are they finally wearing out from the lack of sunlight?" Krista questioned.

"But that makes no sense; it's getting light out here now."

"Hey! Look, behind them!"

Flashes of green with the survey corps emblem were whizzing around the titans necks, as they dropped like flies from both sides, closing in. And just behind the titans, lines of horses were charging towards them, some overtaking them, heading right for the castle, and a few staying just within reach as soldiers hovered over the napes of giants, slaying them and effectively dodging them.

"The rest of the groups must of saw them heading this way and followed!" Sasha cheered, feeling grateful they weren't going to be left stranded on a tower that was on the verge of collapsing, defenceless, surrounded by titans.

It wasn't long before Armin could confirm that the green blur, continuously zooming from one titan to the next was Captain Levi. However, it was the colour red that caught his eye.

"Mikasa! Watch out!"


	5. Chase

**~The night before~**

Mikasa stepped out of the old cabin after her brief conversation with Captain Levi. They were going on a mission tomorrow, just the two of them. She looked up at the sky. The sun had gone down and the moon was already in its position. She pulled her cloak around her more tightly as the wind rushed by her. Looking ahead, she noticed the building they were staying in was farther than she had previously remembered.

"Looks like it could take a while getting back..._"_ she sighed. The wind grew stronger, the tall trees thrashing around behind her. "And it looks like it's about to rain… maybe there's a shortcut?"

Mikasa went around the side of the cabin towards the trees and looked around for a pathway that lead towards the buildings direction. She looked around cautiously being sure not to step on anything as the rain came pouring down, fast. She found a footpath just a few feet away from her however it was slowly becoming a river of cascading mud and leaves. Mikasa decided the quick and easy method would be to advance into the forest, North-West but stay closer to the edges to avoid getting lost. She couldn't see the building at all but she had a rough idea of where it would be once she came out the other side. One foot in front of the other, she ensued, shivering slightly from all the rain water and the gale-force winds around her.

Her ears were turning numb, as well as her fingers; her hair was drenched, and it was getting harder to see. She brought her scarf up to her nose and burrowed into it, putting her hood over her head, she crossed her arms as she walked, keeping her hands warm under her cloak, hugging herself.

**SNAP**

She stopped dead in her tracks, daring not to move. Forcing her teeth to stop chattering, her hands automatically went down towards her blades. Turning her head towards the direction the sound came from, she waited.

_What was that? It sounded like a branch snapped. Could it really be a titan? But then I would have heard it make its way over here._

Shaking that thought from her head, she remained silent, debating whether she should go toward it or not. Making up her mind, she turned back towards the sound and vigilantly made her way, now going South-East. Then she heard it. She froze where she was stood, the rain more persistent than ever, she could make out a figure in front of her, watching it as it dropped down from above and glided down gracefully, approaching her. But her attention was divided. She looked behind her, feeling a hand upon her shoulder.

"Mikasa, what are you doing here?"

She didn't answer. She continued to look in the same direction.

"I thought I told you to go back."

Mikasa tuned her ears in as best she could to listen to what was happening in front her, but the rain was just so loud - so was he.

"MIKASA!" Levi snapped, spinning her round towards him. He looked irate.

_What the hell is he so angry about? It's not like I asked him to be my personal look out. _

Paying no mind to her captain, she turned her full attention back to where she was looking previously.

Not knowing if it was his imagination or not he stopped himself from shouting at her again and knelt down on the wet ground. He felt it again. The ground was trembling ever so slightly and his thoughts were confirmed when he saw Mikasa unsheathe her swords: titans.

"Can you hear it too?"

Levi stood up and took out his blades before answering.

"Yes."

They didn't say anything for a while, observing the soft thuds from up ahead. Judging their distance, the speed and their direction.

"They're heading towards the wall. We need to go, now" he instructed, jogging up ahead of her, uncovering his manoeuvring gear from under his cloak.

"But the others, we should warn them-"

"There's no time now, besides, they are not the ones in danger: Wall Rose and the people between here and there are."

"But Captain!"

"ACKERMAN!" Mikasa stopped talking, surprised by his sudden change in tone. Was it possible that he was even livider than he was a few minutes ago?

"Everyone back there are trained soldiers. They're the Survey Corps, it's what they signed up for and they can damn well take care of themselves. These people have no weapons, no skill, they need us. So forget about Eren and the rest and do your fucking job!"

And with that he took off.

Mikasa vacillated for a few seconds, then shot her hook into one of the trees and followed Levi.

_He's right. As much as I hate to admit it, he's right._

The outermost wall, Wall Maria, wasn't as far as Mikasa first thought it to be. However, it still took them time to get there. Mikasa and Levi rarely spoke. The only one out of the two who did, was Levi, and that was only ever to tell her to stop and take rest here, or to say "we're changing direction." Levi would steal a glance at Mikasa ever so often. He couldn't help but notice how calm she looked, but her eyes…her dark eyes showed so much more emotion. She was angry, possibly by his own words or maybe something else was bothering her. However, he never did get to ask her.

After what seemed like hours, they arrived at the outer wall and landed on top. The rain had stopped and the sun was due to rise, which meant that titans would soon be swarming the area. They were both worn-out and cold; their hands and ears were numb. Mikasa sat down on the wall, taking off her soaking cloak and wringing it out. Levi watched her and did the same.

"Commander Erwin is expecting us, although we're a few hours early. I know a place we can dry off and get something to eat. I want you to wait for me whilst I talk to him and tell him about the approaching titans, understood?" he told her as he watched her shivering, wrapping her scarf back around her neck.

She gave him a nod and again followed him into the derelict area as they flew from roof top to roof top towards the confines of Wall Rose. Once they had met Commander Erwin and the two of them had their talk and Mikasa and Levi were once again warm and dry they headed back out towards the wall. Apparently since the titans were fast approaching, their plans had now changed, although, he told her very little about them.

They walked around Stohess District for a while, filling up on gas and restocking their blades. Mikasa could see the Garrison troops preparing themselves at the wall, inspecting the cannons. They walked down a desolate area of the district; everyone else was still asleep and it was eerily quiet. The only thing that could be heard were their own footsteps and the clanking of their 3-D Maneuver Gear (3DMG). Mikasa had no idea where they going or what they were doing. All she could think about was what Eren and Armin were doing right about now.

_Have they even noticed that I've been gone so long? And do they know about the Titans? I really should stop worrying, Like Levi said, they can take care of themselves._

"Mikasa."

Levi stopped in the middle of a small alleyway. He held his arm out for her to stop, but she realized too late and walked into him.

"What are you-!"

"Look," he whispered.

She followed his finger to the wall on their right. There was a shadow on the wall above them, she looked at it closely trying to figure out what it was and made out a man, crouching.

_Wait, what?_

He motioned with his finger for her to follow him, but this time they were walking a little slower. She quickly realized what he was getting at when the shadow was also moving along with them.

_Is someone tailing us from the rooftops?_

Levi and Mikasa quickened their pace, but sure enough, two more shadows appeared behind them.

Levi grabbed Mikasa and shot his hook into one of the buildings up ahead.

"Follow me!" he ordered her as he aimed at another building.

Mikasa followed him closely, and then she noticed the shadows do the same.

_Wait, they have manoeuvre gear too? Is it the Military Police? They're doing a good job keeping up with us, but why are we running? _

She could sense someone right on top of her as the ground beneath her feet darkened. She instinctively grabbed hold of one of her blades and shot towards a taller building, Levi turned around, his eyes wide.

"MIKASA! Move!"

**_BANG!_**

Something shot at her hand. She felt it hit her maneuver gear, and, in that moment, her hook failed to catch onto the building. Then she dropped.


	6. Pursue & Seek

Mikasa tried desperately to grab onto something: a pipe, a ledge, the rooftop, anything! She saw her chance as an open window ledge came into view. Just before her fingers could grasp it, her back hit a slanted surface. The impact made her drop her sword, and she rolled off the lower roof onto the ground. She didn't try to get back up; she chose to just lay there, staring at the blank blue sky. Mikasa saw a light hit her eye, and found her sword just within arm's reach.

_I have to get up, I have to fight. I need to get back to Eren._

She slowly lifted up her right hand to pick up her sword, stopping when she saw it was covered in blood.

_Huh? When did that happen?_

She brought her hand closer to her face for inspection, turning it at certain angles to see where the blood was flowing from. The side of her palm was split open.

_That sound I heard just before I crashed…_

She sat up looking at her maneuver gear. The blade sheath on her right had a dent where her hand had been, just missing the gas canister.

_Was that a bullet? They're using guns with the 3-D Maneuver Gear? But why? Guns are useless against titans…but against humans…_

Mikasa jumped up immediately, ignoring the pain in her hand.

"Ackerman! We heard gunfire, what's going on?"

She turned to find three members of the Survey Corps, whom she had previously met whilst Captain Levi went to talk with Commander Erwin Smith.

"Where's Captain Levi and…what happened to your hand? You should get that looked at," another one spoke, both concerned and confused.

"I'm fine. Captain Levi and I were being pursued. We tried to lose them, but I lost control. They went that way," Mikasa said as she pointed behind her to where she was last headed before she crashed onto the roof. "Let's go."

Without a second to waste all four of them took off into the air, spacing out and trying to find Levi before anything happened. With the morning wind flowing through her hair, their forest green cloaks billowing behind them, they climbed higher and faster, aiming for the tallest structures within their reach and attaining a bird's eye view of Stohess. The renovation of the city was well underway, however, the damage that Annie and Eren caused was major. The church was one of the first to be rebuilt after it was crushed by the female titan, with many people still inside at the time. There was a clear line of destruction through the city, starting from the outer wall all the way toward the inner wall. Debris and broken roof tiles covered the ground, and a sheet was placed carefully over a part of the wall. It was only now that Mikasa realized the full scale of the damage.

A flash of green shot up ahead towards the outer wall of Wall Rose with flashes of light coming from behind, the gunshots resounding. Captain Levi dodged each bullet with ease, and, spotting a nearby tavern, crash-landed inside - much to the surprise of onlookers. Before the three pursuers could follow, Mikasa and the rest intercepted them, knocking them unconscious with a melee attack.

"I don't think they'll be chasing anyone for a while."

"But what were they doing with this type of equipment?"

"I don't know but we should let the commander know about all of this, don't you think?"

Mikasa stayed quiet whilst the three carried on with their discussion, looking at her hand that was now coated in blood. She tried making a fist, but it hurt. Even though a lot of the blood was now dry, more seeped through.

Just as the three were about to make their way back, cacophonous[1] sounds came from the tavern in which Levi was in. There were sounds of people screaming, objects breaking, and was that more gunfire? Unsheathing her sword, Mikasa jumped off the rooftop they were standing on and landed on her feet, running towards the tavern. She slowed down near the entrance, observing the scene. Captain Levi couldn't be seen, whilst others were hiding under tables or huddled in corners - men protecting women and some even using others as shields whilst they cowered behind them. But, amongst all the commotion, one man stood, all of this caused by his hubris[2] nature. He stood with two hand guns drawn, carrying a shotgun on his back, wearing a black bowler hat with a white band that covered his dark hair, and sporting a large overcoat that went past his knees.

"I found you. Mr. Military police has come to get rid of all the bad guys!" he sneered.

Though she couldn't see him, she knew Levi was hiding behind the bar - judging by the way the man spoke towards that direction and how the trembling bartender kept looking down next to him every time he spoke.

"Come out or this man gets a hole through his head!"

He aimed one of his handguns at the frightened bartender, who held his hands up over his head to show he was no threat, but he was slowly shrinking from fear of losing his life. The man positioned his finger on the trigger and began to pull.

Mikasa grew tired of watching, and with her sword, launched at the man from behind, hacking at his hand just as the bullet was released. The bullet launched straight toward the bartender, entering the wall just millimetres away from his head. The bartender clutched his chest and let out a sigh of relief as he dropped to the floor.

"Huh? What's this?"

Gripping his hand, the gun now on the floor, he had somehow ended up under the mercy of Mikasa's blade. She positioned it at the base of his neck, her face showing neither remorse nor satisfaction; his expression was just as unreadable.

Mikasa didn't want to kill him, she didn't want to kill anybody. She was trained to kill titans, to protect Eren and stay by his side and she wanted nothing more in that moment to be back with him now but she couldn't. She couldn't because she was here. She watched him as his lips turned into a smile and he lifted his blood-stained hands, his wounded hand on her sword wielding arm and with the other, he gently held her face, looking intently into her eyes.

"I know you..." he rasped, holding her tighter and pushing his bloody thumb over the scar under her eye.

She could feel her heartbeat rising, hammering faster and faster. Not quite sure what was happening, Mikasa pushed the man off of her and repositioned her sword again.

"Who are you?" she demanded, pushing her blade deeper into his neck.

The man didn't flinch or show any signs of fear, instead he just laughed. His laugh was so menacing and unexpected from a situation like this, she didn't know what to think of it.

_He's laughing? Even though I could easily kill him, this bastard is laughing?_

Mikasa had become irritated by his antics. She raised her sword higher, ready to strike when he spoke again.

"Levi, you haven't told her have you?"

He looked over at the bar again, a smirk looming on his lips. Mikasa was becoming impatient, she pulled his body forward and slammed his back into a wall behind them, her eyes narrowed with frustration.

"TELL ME WHAT?"

Her voice was louder this time and more demanding.

_What the hell is he talking about and what does Levi have to do with this? I could kill him and get this over with but something's stopping me, what?_

"I'll say it again, slower. Tell. Me. What?" she asked him again, making herself clearer.

The more she looked at his smug face the more she was getting angrier and she didn't know why. She was normally so calm and collected and she was so sure that she doesn't know him from anywhere. She had never even seen him before, so why was her mind so conflicted. He looked middle-aged, and the wrinkles around his eyes were prominent. Beneath his undercoat he wore a white shirt and a black tie that wasn't done all the way up.

"Well I guess I could tell you, before I kill you both," he finally spoke, gently pushing Mikasa's blade away from his neck.

Mikasa stepped away to the side but still kept her guard up, she wasn't dying today, not by his hands.

"The truth is, I knew your parents and they knew me as 'Kenny the Ripper,'" He told her coolly.

Mikasa froze where she stood. Memories of her mother and father flooded her head and it started to hurt: Her father falling to the floor by the front door, her mother running towards her attacker.

"_Mikasa run!_" she had told her, but she couldn't.

_Run to where? I have nowhere else to go to. _

Her mother's desperate screams filled her ears.

_RUN! MIKASA RUN!_

But she couldn't move a muscle. Even when he aimed his gun at her head and she was staring down the barrel of his shot gun, she couldn't move.

_I can't._

"MIKASA RUN!"

She could hear Levi shouting at her from behind the bar, just as much as she heard him load his gun not a second before.

"I knew them, because I-"

**BANG! **The sound echoed through her head just before she dropped to her knees.

_What was that last part of his sentence? I can't remember._

Levi jumped over the counter with the bartenders shotgun and shot towards the man again as he ran towards Mikasa, picking her up off the floor and taking her towards the exit into the open air. The other three Survey Members reappeared, but this time with backup. They began to fight off the three chasers from before as Levi shot up onto a nearby roof.

"Mikasa I need you to follow me again. Can you stand?" he asked her with a sense of urgency.

Mikasa gave a small nod.

"Yeah"

She stood and tailed Levi once again as they flew towards Wall Rose. She could still hear the Military firing at the Survey Corps, though it was getting distant each time. One of them was reportedly shot dead just as they reached the wall. After a while, they had gained some space between them and went off into a nearby forest to take cover for a while.

She zoomed through the dark forest, seemingly without any effort. Levi was just a few inches ahead of her, and neither spoke a word. The rest of the Survey Corps were somewhere behind them, trying to play catch-up, but all Mikasa could think about was what had just happened. Anger and deceit pulsed through her; she had enough. As they got closer to the ground, she locked on to her target. Using all her force and with what little gas she had left, smashed into him at full force, causing them both to veer off course and crash into a nearby tree.

"What the fuck Mikasa?!" Levi yelled, holding his head as he tried to get up.

Mikasa was crouched in front of him, glaring.

_He's hiding something. I know it! But why?! And more importantly what?!_

Before Levi could stand properly and process what was happening, Mikasa took out one of her blades in a flash. With her free arm across his neck, she pushed him back against the large tree behind him, holding the tip of the blade at the side of his neck.

"Tell me what you know!" she demanded, steadying her voice, trying not to let her anger get the better of her. After a long few seconds Levi understood what she meant and nodded slightly.

"Mikasa..." he sighed. "I don't know if you know this but…my name…is Levi Ackerman."


	7. Myriad

"Hey! Look, behind them!"

Flashes of green with the Survey Corps' emblem was visible, whizzing around the titans necks, as they dropped like flies from both sides, closing in. And just behind the titans, lines of horses were charging towards them - some overtaking them and heading right for the castle, and a few staying just within reach as soldiers hovered over the napes of giants, slaying them and effectively dodging them.

"The rest of the groups must of seen them heading this way and followed!" Sasha cheered, feeling grateful they weren't going to be left stranded on a tower that was on the verge of collapsing, unarmed and surrounded by titans.

It wasn't long before Armin could confirm that the green blur, continuously zooming from one titan to the next was Captain Levi, however, it was the colour red that caught his eye.

"Mikasa! Watch out!"

Mikasa's wire was caught by a titan's hand. A 15-meter class with eyes as black as coal, its dark hair falling just above them, and baring it's teeth, sharper than the blades they carried to kill the titans. It watched her as she swung around its neck with what little wire she had left and tried to cut herself free, but to no avail. The titan seemed to catch sight of what she was doing, and with all its force, slammed its fist into the ground, bringing her wire and Mikasa down with it. The ground gave way beneath its giant hand, and within a flash, the rest of the titan's body followed, steam pouring out from the huge slash across the back of its neck.

"MIKASA!"

"What happened?! Did she kill it?" Jean asked Armin, who was peering into the mass of steam that was rising, clouding everything from their view.

"I doubt it. I saw her falling just before it hit the ground," Sasha said, a doleful look on her face.

The five of them looked on, not saying a word, automatically thinking the worst, but trying their best not to. More and more steam gathered as more titans fell at the hands of the Survey Corps, heavy thud after heavy thud. Armin counted as they dropped almost rhythmically.

I can't see Mikasa anywhere, but then again, I can't see anyone through all that steam. There were so many titans behind her when she fell and her wire was caught by that titan…could she really have gotten out of that unscathed? This isn't like Mikasa at all; she's always so in control of herself, especially when Eren is concerned…could it be what he had said to her the other day? Granted it was a horrible thing to say and Eren felt bad about it afterwards, but I didn't think it would bother her this much. I guess she isn't as strong as everyone thinks...

"EREN!" Armin shouted as loud as he could, hoping his voice would reach him over the stampede of titans and all the horses heading his way.

His hand seemed to have regenerated, however, his arm and leg weren't making any progress at all. His attention went back to where the titans and Survey Corps were currently engaged in battle, hoping to see his dear friend had somehow come out unharmed and that she was making her way over here as fast as she could. However, once he saw Captain Levi, he realized that it was not possible, for in the captain's arms was a girl, limp and lifeless, her ebony hair covered her pale face, and her red scarf flowed behind her, slowly becoming undone and taking off aimlessly into the air. It was like a child losing her kite on a windy day, but Armin knew that scarf meant more to her than anyone else could understand. It wasn't a kite or an accessory, it wasn't just fabric woven together: it was a gift; a reminder.

Armin watched Captain Levi as he carried Mikasa and tried to find a way to get her away from danger. He was starting to become slower - possibly tired from killing a majority of the titans and carrying Mikasa to safety - but his face didn't show any signs of giving up. Throwing her over his shoulder, he shot his grappling hook at a nearby tree as he ricocheted off a titans back. Already knowing his next move, he turned his body, aiming for another lone tree that was equal distance from him and the slowly crumbling tower. He aimed and successfully made contact with the tree, reeling himself in.

It suddenly went darker as a giant shadow emerged, masking the ground beneath him. Within seconds an abnormal lunged forward, mouth open. Acting quickly, Levi swerved and swung around the tree. The titan - too slow to react - jumped head first into the tree, knocking itself out. The hook unlatched itself without Levi realizing, and he dropped a few feet away from the tree. Mikasa landed slightly further away, but still showed no signs of movement.

Jean and Armin could do nothing but watch helplessly as their friend lay on the open ground defenceless. She had now become the centre of attention for many nearby titans, and Captain Levi was standing frozen, exactly where he had landed, watching them approach.

"Why is he just standing there?!" Jean questioned an equally flummoxed Armin.

They couldn't understand: was he just expecting her to suddenly spring back to full health and fend for herself?

They, along with the others with them, looked down at their captain, who was now looking rather vexed, cursing loudly and pulling on his manoeuvre gear.

"Has he run out of gas?" Connie suddenly spoke.

"I wouldn't be surprised, seeing how fast he was going. The others are probably running low too. We weren't supposed to be out this long," Jean stated, his face draining as he watched the advancing titans swarming Mikasa.

Levi snapped out of whatever he was feeling and sprung into a full on run at Mikasa, unsheathing his last blade.

This is madness, Armin told himself, trying his hardest to hold back his tears. He had to be strong, for them: for his friends.

"Is he trying to get himself killed?!" Reiner called out in disbelief from behind, no one knowing what was going to happen next.

Could it be, that on this day, humanity would lose both of their greatest soldiers?


	8. Saviour

**A/N: I know this is really short and I haven't updated in a while but I haven't forgotten about this, and I will be updating as soon as I can. I'm currently going through the other chapters and editing them and might have started another AOT fanfic, which is where my time is going. Also, did you read chapter 62? Eren! My heart!**

** Sentinel07 In answer to your previous question, yes, it is Eremika as originally planned, because honestly, it's just so awesome. **

**Again, I can't thank you guys enough for showing interest in my work. All your favourites, follows and reviews are very much appreciated. Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

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I have to protect her. I can't let her go out like this, not after I told her the truth.

Levi unsheathed his last blade, determination in his eyes. Four, five and seven-metre class titans were slowly progressing, watching Mikasa - longing to devour her. Armin, Jean, Sasha and the rest were watching in despair.

Sasha wanted to look away but somehow, she couldn't. She believed in Mikasa and knew that this wouldn't be the last of her. She cursed herself, knowing she couldn't do anything to help her, remembering the time in the supply room when Mikasa saved her so easily from being eaten by the titan that she failed to kill. Her eyes brimmed with tears, the scene in front of her slowly blurring and losing focus.

"Oi Mikasa! Get up! Stop playing around!" Jean howled, balling up his fists. For her to be looking so vulnerable like this was unacceptable to him.

How could this be? She came here to help us but now she's the one needing to be saved? You're one of our strongest soldiers, so how? How did you find yourself in this predicament? When did you become so reckless?

Jean vented to himself, watching the scene unfold. Armin was too lost for words to respond to Jean's outburst. He knew she was unconscious. He watched her fall, and yet, he was still in denial? Even the most skilled soldier can fall in battle. A war is not something that can be predetermined, especially when the enemy is something you can't even understand.

Levi detached his 3-D maneuver gear, which was now rendered useless with its empty gas canisters, whilst running with what little energy he had left. He gripped the handle of his sword tighter, surveying the scene, wondering where to strike first. Had he snapped back to his senses and moved in sooner, he could have gotten to Mikasa before she was surrounded and carried her out of harm's way. However, he knew he had no chance, for the gaps between each blood-thirsty titan was beginning to close.

A 14-metre, which was the biggest out of the lot, took the initiative of taking her first before the smaller titans got within arm's reach. His long fingers were outstretched, lingering over her body, and with one swift motion he picked her up, his fingers grabbing hold of her torso, eyes ravenous.

Levi felt anger pulsing through him, he was too late! She was going to be killed right in front of him. He ran at a speed he never knew he could reach, and with all the power he could muster, dragged his blade down through the Titans forearm before it had the chance to lift her up. Though he didn't manage to cut all the way through, the titans grip loosened and she was released. Levi ran towards her and caught her in his arms before she dropped.

She was still out cold. He placed her gently on the ground, leaning her upper body on him as he draped an arm around her protectively.

If only I had saved her a few seconds before. If I had just made it to the tower! It was right there in front of me so how did I miss it? Damn it! They call me humanity's strongest soldier and yet I can't even protect the one thing I have left.

Levi felt frustrated and angry: at the titans, at the world and most of all, himself. He looked down at the girl in his arms who seemingly looked like she had already given up. He could see the ground masking itself in darkness as the shadows of multiple titans surrounded the two.

This is it. This is where our journey ends. But at least…at least I got to tell her everything before our time was up.

He closed his eyes, hugging Mikasa tighter, not wanting to let her go. He could feel the presence of something hovering above him. A titans hand maybe? Would they pick them up together? Take them separately? Trample on them? Tear their bodies apart, or just swallow them whole?

The thumping of the titans footsteps got slower and eventually had stopped. They didn't need to go any further, they had already reached their target. He squeezed his eyes shut. A part of him, the soldier inside of him, wanted to fight back with all he had. It was screaming at him to move, do something, protect her, and protect everyone. "Do what you came here to do! Don't give up, not yet!" it said. But the other part of him had already accepted his fate. "You did all you could, you would only be making it harder for yourself if you fought back now, give in."

He heard running footsteps coming towards him, the ground vibrating beneath him. His ears suddenly met the sound of such an almighty roar, that he couldn't help but open his eyes. A giant fist connected with the 14-metre's face and sent it flying back towards the tree that Levi had previously dropped from. He roared thunderously, letting out his pent up anger and lunged towards a pair of titans that had their eyes on the two soldiers on the ground. His green eyes glaring, he gently grasped the two in his hand and placed them upon his shoulder.

Levi, taking a fist full of the rogue titan's hair for support whilst clutching Mikasa, levelled himself to Eren's ear.

"Eren! Take us to the tower! The rest of the Survey Corps can deal with this lot!" he commanded.

Eren grunted slightly, showing he understood, and finished dealing with the seven and four-metre class titans that were trying to bite away at his leg to stop his mobility. With a few strides, he was already at the tower, and placed the two onto the rooftop.

"Captain!"

"Mikasa!"

Armin and the rest of the Survey Corps ran towards Levi and the still unconscious Mikasa. Levi placed her on the ground carefully whilst Armin knelt down beside her, relief flowing through him. A shrilling sound pierced the night air, cutting through the cold.

"What the heck was that?" Jean asked, looking straight at Eren who was still fighting in his titan form.

"I don't know, but look."

Reiner motioned towards the rest of the titans who had stopped all movement.

"Looks like they're retreating."

The titans crawled, walked and dragged their way back into the darkness of the boscages, disappearing. Their footsteps becoming softer. The rest of Survey Corps, leapt up on to their horses and rode towards the tower once the coast was clear. Only one titan remained: Eren. As soon as they got out of the tower, Levi ran towards one of the wagons and restocked his blades and gas canisters so he could free Eren of his titan form.

_Sasha cheered in victory as Connie kissed the ground, grateful that none of them were harmed. Reiner carried Mikasa out of the tower and took her to one of the stretchers, Armin's watchful eye never leaving her. Soon, Eren was placed on the one next to her, after he was retrieved by Levi. Armin stood watch over the two. His two best friends, had fallen to save him and their comrades in battle. A tear rolled down his cheeks, as relief washed over him.  
_

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**Question: Would you want me to upload shorter but more frequent chapters , much like this one (and by frequent I mean, once or twice weekly) or would you prefer longer chapters, like my first few, but in longer intervals? Let me know what you think. **


	9. Red

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. Again, thank you for the reviews and let me know what you think of this one, is it still interesting for you? Is it getting predictable? I really like reading your guys' opinions on it. Happy reading :)**

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Several soldiers were injured and more than thirty percent had died carrying out their duty. The remnants of the Survey Corps were ordered to go back to where they were staying so that they could figure out what to do next. It took most of the day, but fortunately, and as strange as it seemed, they were able to get back without encountering any titans. Armin sat in the carriage with an unconscious Mikasa and Eren for company.

Eren looked out of the wagon, watching the sky as the sun was preparing to set when something caught his attention.

"STOP! Stop the wagon!" he shouted desperately. He stood up and leapt out of the wagon before it was at a standstill. Armin, failing to stop him on time, called out to him. He wanted to go after him, but didn't want to leave Mikasa on her own. He yelled to the driver to stop and watched Eren as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Eren! What are you doing?"

But his question was already answered for him once he saw what he was after. Eren stopped in front of one of the trees that was further back than the rest - close to where the titans had both come and gone from. Placing both hands on his knees, he doubled over, trying to catch his breath. He looked up at the piece of fabric that was wrapped around one of the branches, fluttering in the wind. He didn't quite know why, but he just had to get it. He knew Mikasa always had it on her ever since he gave it to her, and it was still in perfect condition. He often wondered why she was so attached to it.

He had asked her once. They had gone to collect firewood, and, just as Eren expected, her neck was laced in red. Deciding to have a little rest, she sat on the grass, bringing her knees in towards her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Eren sat beside her, but not too close.

"Why do you always wear that scarf?" he asked her after a while. All he could see was the side of her face and her long black hair cascading down to her shoulders.

She didn't answer for a few seconds, unsure of what to say, and just lifted it up to her nose. Her cheeks had a tinge of pink as she nuzzled into it. She stared at the ground, avoiding Eren's gaze.

"It…keeps me warm" she replied meekly. "We should get back now" she quickly added, standing up.

He never asked her after that, and soon it became normal, like it was a part of her. Without it, she seemed incomplete. Which was why leaving that scarf there was like leaving a piece of her behind.

He grabbed hold of one of the lower branches and hoisted himself up. Walking along slowly, he latched onto another that was hanging just above his head and used it to swing his body forward towards another. He did this a few more times until he was level with the scarf. It was dangling in front of him, however the branch it was on was slightly further than the others he used to get there. Eren decided to just reach for it once it blew close enough, not wanting to risk falling from that height. Hand outstretched, he reached towards the fabric, inching closer towards it.

_I can reach it. I just need to get a little closer. _

Holding onto the trunk of the tree with his left hand, he leaned his body forward. The scarf just grazed his fingertips and he lost his balance. His heart felt as though it was going to drop before him; he cursed knowing he almost had it. Eren tried desperately to grab onto one of the branches on his way down, but all his attempts were futile. Accepting his fate, he closed his eyes, awaiting the impact…but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes, not daring to look down. He could see red above him, and to his left, green. He followed his arm that was hanging above his head and noticed Levi was holding onto the other end. Levi was crouched on one of the branches, his face vacant of any expressions. He helped Eren up before speaking.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Jaeger?" he asked him nonchalantly, even though the answer was hanging right above his head. Eren looked down and saw horses surrounding the base of the tree. A certain blonde was staring back up at him, concern visible on his face. Eren hadn't realised that the rest of the wagons had stopped and went after him. In fact, he hadn't thought at all.

"Our soldiers are wounded and we need to get back before nightfall, and here you are swinging from trees with no good reason."

Eren didn't bother replying. Truth be told, he wasn't really paying attention, for his mind was occupied with getting that scarf. He watched it wafting slowly in the breeze, teasing him. He knew he could reach it, he just needed a little help.

…_a little help…I just need…that's it!_

Eren's green eyes lit up with determination and a plan. He changed from straddling the branch they were both sat on to crouching on it, staring at the captain mischievously. Levi was still talking to him however no sound was audible, like he was on mute. Eren watched his mouth open and close as his mind was fuelling with strategies.

"Eren! Are you listening to me?"

Levi's voice was slowly becoming louder and he was beginning to feel irritated with how close Eren was to his face. Eren snapped out of his thoughts and leant back.

"Don't move" he told him, grabbing onto Levi's shoulders. Levi, having no time to react watched as Eren used him as a climbing frame and grabbed one of the branches overhead for support, reaching out above him.

"Oi, Eren! Get down!"

Gripping the fabric between his outstretched fingers, he pulled the scarf down to release it from the branch, uncoiling itself. Successful, he hugged it to his chest as he felt himself topple over. As his heel touched the branch, he was unable to regain his balance and began to flail at the edge. Levi, thinking quickly, grabbed hold of Eren's shirt and pulled him forward. He shot his grappling hook at a branch lower down and they both descended.

Levi landed gracefully on his feet, dropping Eren in the process. Dusting himself off, he soon found himself being stared at by puzzled faces.

"Let's move out" he commanded, and without question, they made their way back to their horses.

Armin ran over to where Eren was - still sitting on the ground - and offered him a hand. Taking it, Eren stood, and they both walked over to their wagon. He carefully wrapped the scarf around his neck, inhaling its scent. He would give it to Mikasa when she awakes. The rest of the ride back went by silently. Eren stayed glued to Mikasa's side, not daring to move in case she woke up and he wasn't there.

_I have to tell her how sorry I am. These past few days without her have been unbearable, like something's been missing. What good is killing all the Titans if she won't be there to see it with me? _

This was all Eren could think about. He held her hand at times, just to let her know he was there, and when they got back, he wouldn't leave her side. That much he had decided.

**~Later that day~**

Eren was back in that small plain room again. That room that he would wake up to every morning and have nothing better to do than to study the walls, remembering every crack all too well. But it wasn't too bad, because Mikasa and Armin were there to give him company. Mikasa would always sit beside his bed and make sure he was okay. Sometimes he was annoyed with how over-protective she could be even when she didn't need to be, but often times he was glad that she was there. And that was why Eren was now the one to be sat beside the bed, watching over her.

He carefully lifted up her hand and placed the folded piece of fabric under it. She hadn't shown any signs of waking up or so much as batted an eyelid. The only thing that gave away any sign of life was her steady breathing.

"She fell from quite a height. I'd give her a little time."

Eren broke his gaze and turned his attention to the sound of the voice coming from his left. Captain Levi stood leaning up against the door frame, arms crossed against his chest, his face giving no signs of any emotions, like staring at a blank slate.

"Sir…"

Eren searched for words to say back to him, but his mind failed him. He lowered his eyes, hoping Levi couldn't read his mind. All he could remember was Levi on the ground with Mikasa waiting for them to be devoured. He knew there was nothing he could do, but still, a part of him still expected him to do _something_ at least. That's why he was humanity's strongest soldier, right? So why? Eren just didn't know what to say.

"Maybe if I'd gotten to her quicker…" Eren mumbled under his breath. He watched his hand that was on his lap, clenching and releasing it. "I saw her…fall. But I…I couldn't move."

"I don't know what it's like in that titan-body of yours, but the important thing is that you _did_ get to her on time. She's right here, isn't she?"

Eren thought back to that moment. He was fully aware of his senses at that point. He could hear Armin shouting at him from above and he could see the horses and titans engaged in battle before him. But the moment he saw her, he felt something that he couldn't quite explain, like he had no control of his senses, and all he could see was red. He was willing for her to fall. Was it possible that he wanted her to get hurt? It was all over in a few seconds, but just in that moment, he was conflicted with himself. Still motionless, he watched. It wasn't until he heard Jean shouting that he realised who he was. And who she was.

"But still…if only I hadn't said those things to her earlier! She would have been thinking clearly! She wouldn't be hurt!" Eren spoke, with rage and regret surging through his voice.

"You think everything about her is to do with you?" Levi asked him coldly. Eren looked up at him hearing his sudden response. He was merely venting to himself, and he hadn't realised Levi was still paying attention to his words. "She's a broken girl, and I agree that she does have a strange attachment to you…but that's all you are. You just came into her life at the right time. You saved her and she's been forever trying to repay your debt. But I think she's done that more than enough times now, don't you think?"

Levi's words sounded so indifferent, and yet they had an undertone of anger and slight hatred seeping through.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm her family! I'm all she has left!" Eren snapped, suddenly standing and knocking his chair over in the process. He couldn't understand why Levi of all people would say something like that to him. Jean maybe, but Captain Levi?

"I'M her family," Levi countered, now standing up straight. Eren stood still for a moment, repeating the words in his head. They just didn't sound right.

"Wait, what? W-what do you mean? I...I don't understand..."

"She's not alone out here. She's got family."

"But that's impossible. I met her the day her parents-"

"Got murdered?"

Eren stepped back, alarmed.

_Wait, how did he know? Did Mikasa tell him? But she's never talked about it…to anyone. So why would she-?_

"How did you…"

"Because I was there."


End file.
